Mosinee High School football team practices in September. The school's nickname is the Indians, which may become more difficult to change if a state Assembly bill passes.

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A legislative committee approved a Republican bill Wednesday that would make stripping public schools of race-based nicknames and mascots more difficult - a bill many local activists and educators strongly oppose.

Among them is Barb Munson of Mosinee, a member of the Oneida Tribe and of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association's Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force who has called the bill "racist."

"Scientific research shows these nicknames are harmful to not only Indian children, but all children," Barb's husband, Bob Munson, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. His wife was not ...